Illuminated sign.



A; H. H AW KES. ILLUMINATED' stem. I APPLICATION FILED 001.19, 1907.

Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. 133?. 7 x l A 6" J E Winesses wen for MMMM B $5? A.HAWKES. ILLUMINATED SIGN.

ION PIL Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

BEETSSHBET 2 "Witnesses MA -M fig in opaque s which form to employinclined strips with light received from to present a nearly uniformwhite surface by J wears of ligh a citizen invention.

PAT

I ALBnR T'n. HA'wKEs,

INT oriucn or New renn n. Y.

'ILLUMINATED' iSIGLL specification of Il'ae tters Patent. I

Patented Feb. 2, 1909;

Application filed October 19, 1907. Serial No. 358,139.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. HAWKES, of the-United States, residing inthe borough of Manhattan, in the city and State of New York,electrician, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inIlluminated Signs, of which the fol? lowing is a specification;

1 will describe it as depending for its artificial light onincandescent'electric bulbs,. but the improvement may apply withotherlighting means.- -I will describe it as'used; with two such sources oflight, butthe numbcrmay be-varied.

' I produce the letters or other devices in the long approved Way, bycutting or otherwise shapin open spaces of the properform; ieets f'ofiron or other, material the vertical sides of the ls'igh. I liavediscovered; tliatit- 'is practicable of thinfmetal, or other suitablestrong and cheap material, so placed as to serve to present a whitesurfacethe exterior in its by day, and also universally difitised formreflecting the rays of a lamp or of a number of lamps inthe-interior atnight.' There s of light; This 1s especially thdcase the first portionof the night. My sign is, well ada ted to present its lettersor'otherdevicescl e'arly, and with uniform brilliancyunder all thevaryingconditions It is espe-'- cially easy to repair, when a blow, as amissile intentionally. or accidentally striking it, shall break thestructureor any portion of it;

- same current-which affords the are jeriods when alamp is subjecttoboth an in well-lighted streets of cities during all--- thelightzshal-l The following is a description of what I consider the bestmeansof carrying out the The accompa'yin'g drawings form a part of thisspecificatio.

Figure l is'a front elevation. a vertical section on the line 22 Fig. 3is a vertical section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is aperspective'view of a portion on a larger scale. Figx'h is a diagramshowing' t he'direction of some of the Fig. 2' is in Fig. 1.

Similar letters and marks of reference indicatelike parts in all thefigures where'they g I :3: Q...

A. is a rectangular casing of sufficiently" large portion of each face,and which it is the purpose of, my inclosed slats to illumi- A is aremovable cover which, can be easily lifted off to afford access to themterior.

- A is a rigid bar extending horizontally the llpng way of the'rectangleat about mid aeig t:-

A is a false bottom bottom, and B B a little above the true are ordinaryincandescent bulbs supported on such bottom, receiving current'throughwires 0 and D, either of which may be a positive and the other anegative connection to a dynamo or other 1 source of electriccurrentnot'shown. E is a ,smallmotojr supported also-on the false bot- -tom*and'oonnected,w:t obe ,operated by the light. F is -a fbeltfrom-thisrunning ep n' a pulley G which carries a worm engaging with ahorizontal worm wheel G The latter carries a pulley G Which'by' belts H'gives motionto pulleys 'I, which latter operate inverted glass bells orapproximately cylindrical screens J. hese screensmay be variedindefin'itely'. Their function is't'o color or other- 'W1se modify-=the"li 'ht .;by their slow revolution-induced bythe connecti n to the rap-;idlyrevolvi'ngmotorE.-

It is important :to the tjon, as it"- will: preferably be worked, thatbe uniform in'color up and "downthe whole' side of-thesign. The purpose*of the revolving that light at; intervals. the screensare made iscolored in stripes up One side is, left entirely open. In other Words,the cylinder is not complete; it is left with-one side omitted. It'maysometimes be preferred to have the light uniform. In such case theinotorisdisconnected by any ordinary means and the bulbs are allowed to serveconstant, giving either the ordinary nearly white color,

screens is to :change The, glass of which i success'bf my'invenothercolor, as the glass of thescreen may be colored and adjusted.

A are slides riveted in the interior of the sign, one set 011 each side.P P are light frames matching in ways formed by these slides, .andadapted to be inserted and removed rom above. "It remainsto describe'what I- esteemto-be the most important featureof' the construction,-thereflectors.

stout sheet iron or other substantial mate rial, but It antljclareapertures occupying -a Each of theseframes is formed with a series "ofdeep lglqlliled grooves P shown clearly in Fig. 4. These frames may haveany charproportion, but is not intended as defining acter of surface; Iwill assume that the material thereof is ordinary iron.

0 O &c. are slats ofiron 0 "low steel hav ing surfaces especially prepaid with reference to reflecting light. be smooth mirrors, or they may beirregular mirrors produced by the aid of broken material of variousdegrees of fineness. I prefer for general use, and especially forconvenience of cleaning, that the surfaces shall be smooth white enamel.The lower surface is the one which is useful. The lamp. is usuallyhigher than the spectator. The lower surface reflects both the diffuseddaylight under day conditions, and the artificial light from theinterior under night conditions. In the latter case it adds so muchexterior light as is available.

Modifications within the scope of the apended claims may be made withoutdeparts mg from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of theinvention.

The drawings show good proportions of the bulbs and of the slats, and ofthe carria es or frames in which the slats are car- ,rie but all theseparts may be varied withinwide limits. Fig. 5 illustrates a good exactproportions.

Parts may be employed without the whole. I can omit the screens JJ andthe provisions for revolving them and provide other means forchangingthe colors or be content with maintaining the colors uniform.The cover A overhangs the body of the lam and allows a considerablespace forzventilation. The tubular provisions, A,

. in the bottom allow air toenter freely at those points. When the lightis electrical as shown, these provisions are less important, buttheysmay always be of use, especially in case of a driving snow or othercause inducing the presence of water in the sign.

These apertures in such cases drain the structure effectually. In all'the forms the siats are plane and the rays emitted by the two bulbsB orother source of artificial lightiia tally.

in a low portion of the interior is'received directly and is reflectedoutward horizo' n I have shown the sign double-faced and such arerequired in manysituations. Both faces are illuminated 'by the samelight.

There are other cases where a single-faced lamp will serve well. Insuch, the back face may often be omitted, and the casing fitted asclosely as may be to 'thefront of the building. T he invention-willserve well thus mplied.

claim as my invention:

1. In an illuminated sign, an opaque plate stencil-cut with the desired:tters or de- The surfaces 'may vices in combination with a series ofplane slats having reflective surfaces set inclined adjacent to andbehind such late, arranged to receive light directly from the source andreflect it outward horizontallv.

2. In an illuminated sign, an opaque plate stencil cut with the desiredletters or devices a series of slats having reflective surfaces andobliquely set in a series adjacent to said letters in frames P, thecasing having ways for guiding such frames and a removable coverallowing a frame and its slats to be conveniently inserted and removedat. will.

In an illuminated sign a body or casin'g having an opaque platestencil-cut with the desired letters or devices, and a series ofsupporting and guiding ways extending up and down, in combination withframes matched easily in such ways adapted to al low any to be removedand replaced at will. and a series of slats having reflective surfaces,carried in inclined grooves in such slats in combination with the seriesof-slats adapted therefor of metal with one face enameled, adapted toreflect either day-light or artificial light and provisions forelectricallvliqhtin the space behind such slats.

-5. In an illuminated sign two opaque plates stencil-cut eachwith thedesired letters 01 devices in combination with connecting end plates,means for lighting and draining the lower portion, means .for removablyprotecting the upper portion against the weather, and with two series ofinclined slats with reflective surfaces arran ed on the opposite sidesof-the casing an to be illuminated b a single series of artificiallights in: the owerportion-of the interior, allsubstantiall as hereinspecified.

'6. In an illiiminated sign, an opaque plate, stencil-cut with thedesired letters or ALBERT H. HAWKES.

Witnesses THOMAS ,Danw Srsrson,

EMMA F. HUNT.

